This invention relates to the field of body armor for protecting a user from penetration.
Throughout recorded history various types of materials have been used by people to protect themselves from injury in combat and other dangerous situations. At first, protective clothing and shields were made from animal skins. As human technology advanced these protective garments became more advanced and were made of thin metal plates inserted into panels in a vest or sewn into densely woven materials, such as Loden cloth woven underwater to contract the fibers during the weaving process. In the early centuries the typical soldier at the infantry level wore a quilted jacket reinforced with pieces of metal, bone or leather. As civilizations became more advanced, wooden shields and then metal shields came into use.
In the 8th century, chain mail appeared in the equipment of Norsemen. Mail remained the standard protection for more than 400 years. Eventually, metal was also used as xe2x80x9cclothingxe2x80x9d, in what we now refer to as the suit of armor associated with the knights of the Middle Ages. By the 15th century suits of arms composed entirely of metal plate armor were in general use for mounted knights. Such suits weighed about 60 pounds (27 Kgs). As weapons improved, the knight correspondingly increased the weight of his armor and subsequently lost more of his mobility.
With the advent of firearms, most of the traditional protective devices were no longer effective. In fact, the only real protection available against firearms were constructed barriers, such as stone or masonry walls, as well as natural barriers such as rocks, trees, and ditches. Among the items sent from London, England to Jamestown, Va. in 1622 were armored jackets called brigantines. However, during the 17th century reinforced armor became increasingly ineffectual and additionally unbearable to wear for any length of time and was discarded piece by piece.
One of the first recorded instances of the use of soft armor was by the medieval Japanese, who used armor manufactured from silk. Although the first United States Law Enforcement Officer to lose his life in the line of duty, U.S. Marshall Robert Forsyth, was shot and killed in 1794, it was not until the late 19th century that the first use of soft armor in the United States was recorded. At that time, the military explored the possibility of using soft armor manufactured from silk. The project even attracted congressional attention after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. But while the garments were shown to be effective against low-velocity bullets, traveling at 400 feet per second or less, they did not offer protection against the new generation of handgun ammunition being introduced, at that time that traveled at velocities of more than 600 feet per second. This along with the prohibitive cost of manufacturing the garment made the concept unacceptable. Armor of this type was said to have been worn by Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria when he was shot in the head, thereby precipitating World War I.
The bullet-proof vest was popularized during the prohibition era by FBI crime fighters and publicized by the newly emerging film industry of the 1920""s and 1930""s. One of the first documented instances where a bullet-proof vest was demonstrated for use by law enforcement officers is detailed in the Apr. 2, 1931 edition of the Washington, D.C., Evening Star, where a vest was demonstrated to members of the Metropolitan Police Department. However, none of these designs proved entirely effective or feasible for law enforcement or correction use.
The next generation of ballistic vests was introduced during World War II. The xe2x80x9cflak jacketxe2x80x9d, constructed of ballistic nylon, provided protection primarily from low velocity munitions fragments and was ineffective against most pistol and rifle threats. These vests were also very cumbersome and bulky, and were restricted primarily to military use.
It was not until the late 1960""s that new fibers were discovered that made today""s modern generation of concealable body armor possible. Concurrently, the 1960""s witnessed a dramatic rise in fatalities of law enforcement officers in the US. From 1966 to 1971, the number of law enforcement officers killed each year in the line of duty more than doubled, from 57 to 129. Concerned by this rapid increase in officer fatalities and recognizing that a majority of the homicides were inflicted with handguns, the National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, predecessor of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), initiated a research program to investigate development of a lightweight body armor that on-duty police could wear full time.
This investigation readily identified new materials that could be woven into a lightweight fabric with excellent ballistic-resistant properties. Following initial laboratory research, the agency concluded that the objective of producing body armor suitable for full-time police use was achievable. In a parallel effort, the National Bureau of Standards developed a performance standard that defined ballistic-resistant requirements for police body armor. The National Bureau of Standards was a part of the NIJ Technology Assessment Program, which today is known as the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC).
Since the 1960""s, when concealable body armor was introduced, the technology for ballistic materials has improved considerably to the high standards of modern day soft body armor demanded by today""s crime fighters. Of all the equipment developed and evaluated in the 1970""s by NIJ, one of its most significant achievements was the development of body armor that employed DuPont""s Kevlar(copyright) ballistic fabric.
The evolution of powerful, high capacity semi-automatic weapons has created an increased need for state-of-the-art body armor.
The present invention is a modular front opening body armor that allows attachment of various pieces of protective equipment to protect a user from penetration by blades, sharp objects, and ballistic weapons.